Strollin’ Down Santa Cruz

Hit up Another Day of Sun from the soundtrack of La La Land.Then you can go ahead and start scrolling down.

You can imagine how I would describe this exact day and the feelings that come through while going through these photos. It’s the song that perfectly pairs with each moment captured during this trip.

Santa Cruz, California, 2017 | Canon AE-1, Kodak Portra 160

Waking up to my friend’s calls as an alarm clock is the norm. When Josh told me they were coming over in a few minutes to pick me up, I packed my bag and freshened up the quickest way I can. The moment we got into the car, we left behind all worries, problems, projects and work that were weighing us down.

Driving down the freeway in the wee hours of the morning, with Red Hot Chili Peppers blasting through the car speakers, we were all set up as we headed straight for Santa Cruz. It was our little getaway and respite from reality.

When we got there, the first thing we did was set-up a picnic in a spot overlooking the beach that we stumbled along the way. We made sandwiches, ate some apple, joked around (you know the works) and just lay there under the sun for a few moments. Josh started surfing after a while while the rest of us were free to do as we pleased and went around to explore the area. Mithila, Gabe, David and I ended up finding another cozy spot on a cliff (which we now refer to as our spot) where we all passed out and napped for a few hours until noon came around. Let me tell you, it was one of the most refreshing naps I’ve had in a long while. I also took the chance of taking a couple of photos of surfers from that vantage point.

Sometime around the day, Mithila and I walked to the nearest town and stumbled into an ice cream parlor where we got sorbets and chai lattes. I was trying to cheer her up from the whirlwind of events that happened during the course of the week. (Getting her ice cream kinda worked.) It was the epitome of a perfect sunny afternoon despite everything that was happening.

When the day was about to end, we watched the sun set and the skies change colors to give way to the night. Josh passed out in the car and the rest of us started to use our time wisely and did some shooting for a class project. Fooling and walking around, using restrooms at a random pizza place without getting anything, shivering in the cold night, and getting anxious about whether or not we would still be able to go home (considering the one who’ll be driving was knocked out in the back of his car). Thankfully we did. Get home, I mean even if it was around midnight already. That beats sleeping in the car and spontaneously staying the night over an unfamiliar town.

Nevertheless, it was lovely and it was magical: a day full of tears and laughter and a night full of mischief and adventure, where we shared real stories with one another.